


give me your confession

by greenbucket



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Mild Painplay, Multi, Polyamory, Praise Kink, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-02 14:49:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenbucket/pseuds/greenbucket
Summary: Zuko is very carefully avoiding both of their gazes and going pinker still. He doesn’t make a move from where he’s half-under Aang to clean up and Katara doesn’t know what to say because if what shethinkshappened just happened, it’s a little too much to process right then.





	give me your confession

**Author's Note:**

> for Zutaraang Week day 1: confession!
> 
> thanks to the Zutaraang discord for this concept and @kuchi for editing 
> 
> title from Sanctify by Years & Years

It can be difficult for three people to have sex. That’s just a fact, Katara is pretty sure, since it’s hard enough to keep elbows and knees and bed sizes and grazes and sore muscles and whatever else in mind when it’s just two people. Hard enough to sustain a certain position, to keep balance, even if one of the people involved  _ is _ the Avatar.

So it’s almost inevitable when, just as they’re getting very caught up in everything and Zuko is making the kind of sounds he does when he’s right at the edge, Katara feels their careful co-ordination going out the window and her knee slipping off the bed. There are far too many silky throws on Zuko’s ridiculous bed to get any kind of hold, and it seems Aang is too busy telling Zuko how he’s doing so good for either of them to realise what’s going on until too late.

And then all of a sudden no one’s doing good anything because they’re not having sex anymore and Katara is half on the floor being smothered by all the throws she took down with her.

She thinks she maybe kicked-and-or-smacked both of the others in the scramble. There was definitely a sound, a strangled kind of yelp or gasp, but if someone had gotten hurt there would be laughing and instead there’s just an odd kind of silence as she sighs and stares up at the ceiling.

“All okay?” Katara asks, admitting defeat and swinging her one remaining leg off the bed so she can get back on.

Way too quickly, and way too squeakily, Zuko replies, “Yes. Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

Now she’s sitting upright again, Katara can take stock of the situation properly. They’re still slightly entangled, so it takes a moment to decipher it’s Aang who’s still hard, torn between a startled kind of turned on and trying very hard not to laugh; Zuko, meanwhile, has a pinkish mark across his cheek as if he’s been slapped and has come all over himself.

“Oh,” Katara says, and she and Aang share a look that more or less contains the full range of potential reactions and questions a brain might be expected to fire off given the circumstances. “Um?”

Zuko is very carefully avoiding both of their gazes and going pinker still. He doesn’t make a move from where he’s half-under Aang to clean up and Katara doesn’t know what to say because if what she  _ thinks _ happened just happened, it’s a little too much to process right then.

After a way, way too drawn out moment, Zuko, sounding sort of miserable, says “Uh, sorry.” He tries to pull back and move away, but Aang grabs him before he can.

Aang looks down at Zuko’s wrist still a little dazed, like he’s not quite sure what to do with it. He forces a laugh and says, “We’ve all been there, right? Don’t worry about it. C’mon, Katara, come back up here.”

-

They don’t mention it.

That is, they get back to business in that particular instance – and it’s fairly satisfactory all round even if Zuko doesn’t come again and seems more focused than usual on making sure Aang and Katara  _ do –  _ and then Aang and Katara discuss it some when Zuko isn’t around.

Maybe that’s like sneaking around behind his back. Aang in particular doesn’t seem content with the secrecy, but Katara thinks it’s important to take a united front on this.

It’s not as if they aren’t aware of the particular likes and dislikes Zuko has, the likes and dislikes they all have; expressing these things and discussing and negotiating them is an ongoing part of figuring out their relationship, as embarrassing and stilted as it can be sometimes, and as much as Aang and Katara have a head start with each other in that department. And as much as Zuko isn’t the best at doing it with actual words.

The point is that this isn’t like the specific shuddery thing Zuko does when they tell him he’s doing so well. That she and Aang picked up on pretty quickly and just adapted to include it without any of them having to have a discussion.

It's not even like when they figured out that that particular reaction could be provoked just by tell ing Zuko he did a great job in a meeting, or had some useful input on legislation, which is a slightly weirder thing to adapt to. But Aang at least has always had a thing for  _ competence  _ (Zuko’s or Katara’s) and Katara hardly resents all the semi-frantic, secreted away making out sessions they’ve squeezed into their schedules as a result, so it all works out.

If Zuko does like to get smacked, or whatever it was about whatever Katara did that did it for him – she really hopes she hit him with her hand or elbow rather than her feet, because she has her own lines – there’s the potential to really hurt, to do damage, if they don’t do it right.

So she and Aang start to try things out.

-

Katara presses Zuko’s wrists down hard, holding him there, putting her hand right on the bone and twisting his arm in a way she knows is uncomfortable if not quite painful. Zuko’s eyes go wide and questioning, looking between her and where Aang is otherwise occupied putting his own wrist to use on Zuko. 

He looks like he’s considering if they’re messing with him. Katara doesn’t know how to convince him they aren’t, other than by proving it with actions, so she nudges Aang to stop and takes her full weight off Zuko to ask, “Is this okay?”

Zuko considers the question, still looking unsure, then nods, and when Aang starts back up and Katara presses his arms down again fully he relaxes into it with a sigh.

-

The next time, it’s less thought out. Katara plays with Zuko’s hair all the time, mostly without thinking about it. In this particular instance, watching him take his time with his mouth on Aang, it’s deliberately keeping her hands busy, stopping her from feeling like she’s going to jitter out of her skin at the sight of them.

“Awesome, awesome, you’re so awesome,” Aang is saying, eyes shut and about to wriggle out of Zuko’s reach.

Half-teasing, Katara tells Zuko, “Do you hear that? You’re awesome.”

Zuko doesn’t say anything at all, obviously, but he doubles down on his efforts, his hair loosening from Katara’s grip to fall into his face. She gathers it back up and then, instead of stroking it like before, she yanks. Zuko’s head jerks back a little, and his whine is almost covered by the way the motion makes him splutter around Aang and pull off.

Katara lets go and Zuko wipes the spit from his mouth and chin with his hand, which is something that shouldn’t be attractive and almost isn’t. Aang stares at them both for a moment, glazed and sweaty, before taking the opportunity to roll onto his front, mash his face into the pillow and groan a whole lot of garbled feeling into it.

“Make sure Zuko can still finish you off,” Katara instructs, eyeing the way Aang is pressing his hips into the mattress.  She knows exactly what that tone does for Aang. He shivers and eases up.  Turning back to Zuko, she asks, “Was that okay?”

“Yes,” Zuko replies, so quick she hasn’t quite finished the question, and Katara feels the beginnings of a deep satisfaction, nothing to do with the arousal that’s fogging her whole brain. They’re doing this  _ right _ . Slightly more measured, Zuko adds, “You could do that again, if you wanted.”

“Definitely,” Aang agrees into the pillow. And then, after some consideration, “But after you’re done with me maybe?”

Katara takes a handful of Zuko’s hair and tugs, much more gently than before. It can’t be enough to hurt even a little, but Zuko’s breath still catches. “You did great,” she says, and leans into a kiss but doesn’t let it go on too long, pulling back once Aang stops rubbing himself off on the bed like if he shifts in small enough movements she won’t notice.

She hands Zuko off to him and sits back, just watching for now, as Zuko pushes Aang back down onto the mattress.

-

The three of them get a whole two days free to just hang out together – other than the constant presence of tasks like researching and approving and corresponding – which is a circumstance pretty much unheard of; Aang takes the news with such fake surprise that Katara suspects strings being pulled.

They don’t have sex the  _ entire _ time, and not just because they get a surprise visit from Toph who is far too omniscient for her interruption to not be on purpose, but they do have a fair bit of it, and a fair amount of that is spent indirectly assuring Zuko they’re good with his pain thing. 

More than good, really.

It starts slow, because if there’s something Katara likes almost more than being in charge it’s being able to take her time, and it’s a rare treat to not have something in the day’s schedule looming as a cutoff point. At first they’re lounging about, half-heartedly getting ahead on work, with the possibility of something happening just simmering, and then one not-at-all-smooth or subtle touch leads to another and Katara is gasping and pushing Aang and Zuko away as she comes down.

Sometime later, Zuko is sitting between Katara’s legs, resting his back against her torso, and Aang is kneeling in front of them, leaning in awkwardly to kiss along Zuko’s jaw and neck. They’re light kisses, enough that Zuko has already gotten ticklish and wriggled away a few times, until they’re not and Aang is focusing on one spot on Zuko’s neck and sucking.

“Oh,” says Zuko, and Katara is treated to a mouthful of hair as he tips his head back.

Until then, she’d had been considering offering that they reconfigure themselves to give Aang easier access, but the perfect view she has of Zuko’s shiver when Aang starts to bite a little gives her better ideas. 

When Aang finally pulls away, Zuko’s breathing is quick and unsteady and he’s so sweaty Katara would push him away and ask Aang to give them some fresh air if she wasn’t enjoying it so much. There’s no bruise formed yet, but the skin is an almost lurid red, slick and with slight indents from Aang’s teeth; Katara reaches out to press a finger to it and Zuko twitches into and away from the touch at once.

“Wow,” Aang says. He copies Katara, tracing the outline of the mark, and Zuko makes a choked sound. With Aang not pressed in as close, she can see in his posture just how turned on Zuko is. “Was that okay?” Aang asks, still touching Zuko’s skin.

Gently, Zuko moves Aang’s hand away. “Completely.”

“You should do that again,” Katara tells Aang. “Another one, somewhere else.”

“Now?” Aang asks, half to Katara and half to Zuko.

Katara waits, because although she might want it to be now, she wants to be entirely sure that Zuko does too, that the whole thing isn’t too much for him. And because she really wants  _ him _ to be the one to say it.

It takes a moment or two but eventually,  sounding almost embarrassed to let Aang and Katara to focus on him even a moment longer, Zuko says, “Yeah, now. Now works.”

“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear,” Katara says. When she leans round to kiss his cheek, Zuko has the particular glow and smile she’s come to associate with being pleased he’s done well.

“Lower down this time, Your Fireiness?” Aang asks, “To make sure Lord Hotman can cover it with a high-collar robe in case some nobility faints at the sight?”

Zuko rolls his eyes, which would be more effective if he wasn’t flushed all over. “Sure.”

As Aang sets to work this time, more on Zuko’s collarbone than his neck, Katara lets her hands wander. Not with any particular intentions, just to get Zuko a little more riled up, touching here and there where she can reach, a pinch or occasional kiss to keep Zuko on his toes. Holding him back, just a little.

Aang makes this mark more of a performance, too, letting up on sucking after a bit to kiss the skin nearby, then starting up again, using the tiniest bite of his teeth before reverting back to sucking.

When he’s satisfied with that spot, he moves on to another and starts afresh, by which time Zuko is getting wriggly, his muscles twitching and his breathing catching to whines more often than not.

By the time they’re at mark number four, Katara spots Zuko reaching to give himself a little relief. She catches his arm and says, “Don’t.”

Aang chooses that moment to properly bite the current in-progress mark, harder than he had been before, judging by the way Zuko yelps and shudders. 

“Please?” he asks of Katara, voice almost small. 

Katara’s heart is racing. They’ve never taken  _ this _ in that direction before, but if they are he knows he shouldn’t be asking at all.

“Not yet,” Katara allows. “Just relax. You can keep being good for me, can’t you?”

“Yes,” Zuko says, though he doesn’t sound sure.

“Of course you can.” Katara catches Aang’s eye and tries to silently communicate what she’s thinking. “You’re doing so well, you’re being perfect for us.”

It’s not strictly true, the way Zuko’s body is moving in the search for any kind of friction when she hasn’t said he’s allowed to, but Katara will give him a pass this time. She feels too light-headed for anything else.

Aang finishes up on the last mark, as lurid red as the first, checks in with Katara again, and then reaches down to take Zuko in his hand. Zuko gasps and almost breaks out of Katara’s grip.

She only gives him a few seconds to appreciate the sensations before she’s digging a fingernail into the first mark that Aang had made on Zuko’s neck. Katara presses hard into the deep purple bruise that’s formed, twists and presses her nail in enough for it to hurt _ . _

Zuko’s whole body tenses up in a second that stretches and stretches and his groan comes out strangled the way it always does; he comes all over Aang’s hand a moment later.

-

Later still, they’re wrapped up in clean blankets on clean sheets and thoroughly worn out. Turns out sex can be really, really exhausting, especially if you have more than enough of it and it’s particularly strenuous. Especially if it’s three people.

Katara is half asleep, curled around Aang with a hand somewhere on Zuko on Aang’s other side. They’ve been quiet for a while, and it’s late, and they really do have to get back on a schedule of sorts tomorrow. Despite all of that, she asks into the dark, “Was that okay for you?”

“I thought it was pretty great!” Aang replies, sleepy and bright and purposefully dumb. Katara should have expected it. She feels warm with it, and it gets Zuko to laugh, too, breaking a weird sense of seriousness and earnestness and gravity which had laid over everything since Aang leaned in to make that second bruise.

“You know it was,” says Zuko eventually, sincere without the seriousness. Then, teasing, “Why? Are you fishing for compliments?”

“Well  _ excuse _ me for checking in after all that,” Katara says, playing up the hurt. She’s mostly too blissed out to feel anything of the sort. “It got kind of intense.”

Aang gnashes his teeth together as if for emphasis. “Good, though.”

“It was nice,” Zuko says. “Really nice.” A pause. “Next time,” he continues, still into the dark, a faux casual confession, “you could, um- do something harder, if you want. It’s a pain thing, not just a drawing it out thing.”

Another pause. Katara is pretty sure neither she nor Aang expected Zuko to admit to that so readily, when they haven’t even directly addressed Zuko’s penchant for getting hard at the slightest praise. 

But still. It’s about expressing and discussing and negotiating and adapting, right? Katara figures it’s all a process that they’re only just in the beginnings of. They haven’t even started to unpack Aang’s thing for fire.

Aang himself breaks the following silence by laughing genuinely, and asking as sarcastically as he ever gets, “Oh, really? You think?”

“Thank you for making that clear,” Katara continues, putting aside her surprise and joining in. “I don’t think we could’ve got there otherwise. Definitely not what we were going for this whole time.”

Zuko shoves Aang, and by extension Katara, halfway across the mattress in response. “Okay, fine, I get it. Go to sleep, both of you.”

Katara lifts a leg over Aang to kick Zuko in the shin. Not too hard, though; she doesn’t want to awaken anything in him afresh, now they’ve just put down clean sheets.  
  
  



End file.
